...and the prisoners were listening

'About midnight Paul and Silas were praying

and singing hymns to God,

and the prisoners were listening to them...'

Acts 16:25

I absolutely love this story! 

Just imagine for a moment...

you're imprisoned unfairly...

dark. cold. damp. crowded. 

I can't be completely certain as to what my response would be; I would like to think that it would be gracious and joyful and eager to honor my Lord in the midst of it all, but given the comfortable life I am used to living, I am not entriely sure. 

Here are two men, Paul and Silas, in love with Jesus. 

Their lives completely transformed by the God who lived and died to save their souls. 

Imprisoned for bringing light to the darkness...hope to the hopeless. 

So here they sit...

the dampness unable to snuff out their light...

the shackles binding their feet but not their tongues...

the coldness adding stark contrast to the life giving warmth of the presence of God in that place. 

Paul and Silas were not clammering about the unfairness of the situation. 

They were not building support for a riot. 

They were praising and praying! 

...and the prisoners were listening. 

The unfairness of life can be slippery slope and a dangerous rabbit hole. 

The bitterness it brings can swallow a person whole. 

The only guard against it: gratitude. 

For everything I complain about, whether legit or not, there is something to thank God for. 

In that moment, I have a choice to make: 

complain or give thanks. 

The choice has the power to not only change my life, but the lives of those around me. 

Whatver 'prison' you may find yourself in, whether it is a challenging marriage, a dead-end job full of corporate politics, a barren womb, grief from loss or shattered dreams, unemployment, illness, financial strain.....

my prayer is that you will embrace the God who cares in the midst of the darkness and cold and dampness of life. 

I pray that the God who promised to be an ever present help in times of trouble would be so present that your soul can't help but sing. 

I pray that gratitude would spill out of you,
cutting through the darkness like a knife and bringing hope to your weary bones. 

And don't forget all those imprisoned around you...

they will be listening. 

blessing be yours. 

tiffany 

in God alone

'Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the 

Lord our God!'

Psalm 20:7

O sweet Jesus--keep my heart from idols!

Keep my heart from looking to things or people for protection, deliverance or fulfillment. May my heart's affection and my heart's confidence be found solely in you. Grant me grace that I may always remember that the securities of this earth are temporary and while mortal men are eternal beings because of their souls, their presence on this earth is as temporary as a blade of grass. 

Today and tomorrow and the days to come, may my heart bow to you only and find it's security and peace and fulfillment and rest in your name alone!

peace. 

tiffany 

3,650

3,650 days.
10 years.
1 decade.
2 people.
young. oblivious. hopeful. hopelessly in love.
Stood before one hundred family and friends and promised to hold onto each other.
to love each other.
to love God.

Fast forward a full decade.
The sun has risen and set more than three thousand times.
Sunsets followed joy filled days and others were embraced knowing the day was over and a new one would bring a new beginning.
There has been laughter....laughter through tears and laughter that brought tears.
There has been tears...babies and their first cries...babies that made their Mama cry.
There has been pain...bones broken, power tool accidents, scraped knees and hot words spoken in anger.
There are new smile lines and aching muscles.
There have been mistakes.
There has been forgiveness.
There has been miles driven and destinations reached. Photos taken and milestones passed.
There has been diplomas earned and dollars returned.
There has been the unexpected and the expected...the nights spent in prayer and the nights spent under the stars.
We have raced...we have won...we have surrendered...we have held on.
We have held on to the the hope that Christ is glorified not through the illusion of perfection but through two people, daily making a choice to love Him first and to love others well...starting with one another.
In an earthly sense, we were destined to fail,
but we held onto the promise that if God is for us, who can be against us?
We remember that we have been forgiven and therefore we are called to forgive.

"For where you go I will go,

and where you live I will live.

Your people will be my people, and your God my God.

Where you die I will die and there I will be buried. 

May the Lord deal with me ever so severely if anything but death separates you and me."

Ruth 1:16b-17

Thank you for being my Beloved. 
Thank you for loving me as Christ has loved the Church and gave Himself up for her. 
I love you but I love God more. It is beacuse of that love for Christ, that my love for you continues to grow. I love the man that you are and I love the man you are becomming. 
Thank you for joining me on this journey of life and love. 
I am crazy about you. 
Yours eternally. 

<><tce

the freedom

'...But when they measure themselves by one another 

and compare themselves with one another,

they are without understanding.'

2 Corinthians 10:12b

I love this. Love. love. love. this. 

Paul is addressing the issue of self righteousness and spiritual comparison.... 

Ha, and we thought the Bible was not relevant to our lives today! 

As my soul savored these precious words today, a quiet and profound sense of freedom washed over me...alongside the solid conviction of my Sweet Jesus....

Baby Girl, 

when you compare yourself-your children-your home-your body-your yard-your accomplishments-your failures-your giftings-to that of another, 

you are failing to understand the beauty that I have in store for you and the work I am doing in others. 

Your journey will never mirror that of another. 

With my strength you will begin to savor that and the pull to compare will cease. 

Walk with Me. 

A prayer of my heart is the prayer for understanding. 

I long to understand who God is and the woman He is creating me to be. 

I long to understand my husband and children so as to love them more. 

I long to understand the hurt and anguish around me so as to minister His love and healing more effectively. 

I long to understand. 

When I fall prey to the pull of comparison, I am forfeiting the divine understanding of the Creator of all I compare. 

As I digest this profound truth, 

the beautiful result is sweet, sweet freedom. 

Freedom to leave behind the scrutiny of others and even more so the scrutiny of myself. 

I lay down the weight of judgement and condemnation and trade it for the yoke that only the Creator God can offer. 

And with that comes understanding. 

Freedom and understanding. 

Yes please. 

<><tce

simple.profound.

"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength."
 ~ Isaiah 30:15

My face hurts from the sinus pressure. 

My shoulder is sore for an unknown reason. 

My body is tired from little sleep and lots of play. 

My spirit is spilling over with joy for reasons that are hard to articulate.

God is doing a profound and simple work in my heart and mind and life. 

My soul longs for intimacy with Jesus. 
In that longing I am filled. 

I crave the covering of His presence

and the rest I find there. 

My mouth falls silent as my heart and strength are renewed

in spite of all physical circumstances. 

And sometimes, the only response I have is to savor the silence and
allow my heart to beat my gratitude.  

Sweet Jesus, thank you. 

filled.

tiffany 

faithful in this moment

I am a dreamer. I am a goal setter. I am a planner. 

When you combine these three things, it can be a recipe for a contentment disaster. 

Because I am always looking ahead and aspiring for something, my heart is easily consumed with what I don't yet have or with the goal that I have yet to achieve. 

In Jeremiah 29, we read the prophet's letter to the exiles. 

These people had been taken from their homeland (Jerusalem) and led into exile in Babylon. 

Undoubtedly, their hearts were in anguish for home as their future hung in the balance. 

God starts Jeremiah's letter like this: 

"Build houses and live in them;

plant gardens and eat their produce.

Take wives and have sons and daughters;

take wives for your sons,

and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters;

multiply there, 

and do not decrease."

Jeremiah 29: 5,6

Surely and rightfully these people longed for home. 

Their dreams looked very different from the reality they were living. 

As they cried out to God, this was His puzzling and profound response. 

Make a home there. 

Work the ground and reap it's bounty. 

Grow in stature. Grow in relationships. Grow your family. 

Wait--what?!

They are in--what appears to be from the outside--an unfair and undeserved place. 

They are crying out for deliverance and this is the response?!

As I look at life and the journey that I have already  taken to arrive where I am, I see God working in much the same way in my own life. 

Although my heart has hurt and I have struggled to understand His ways and His methods in my life, He has always spoken this quiet truth to my heart: be faithful in this moment. 

Psalm 37 is a beautiful song of contentment and hope. 

'Trust in the Lord, and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in Him, and He will act.' (vv3-5)

Dwell in the land. Befriend faithfulness. 

Delight yourself in the Lord. 

So often, our hearts quietly say: "If you give me the desires of my heart,  THEN I will delight in you" 

But God is calling us to something better. 

He says, 

"Sweet child--won't you love me for Who I am rather than for what I do? 

Won't you draw near to me in this land of exile and get to know my heart for you?"

Friend...

wherever God has you today, 

whatever land you are living in, 

I pray that you will befriend faithfulness. 

I pray that you will commit your way to the Lord, walk forward in obedience and leave the responses of others, the results and the circumstances before the King who knows all things and sees all things and holds all things. 

Don't stop dreaming...

Just remember that when we are faithful with little--in the everyday comings and goings of the life we live right now--we will be entrusted with much. Our desires will come to be because our desires will be summed up in the person of God. As we live in this exile land, we learn that the Person of God is our nearest companion. 

And that my friend, is the greatest gift of all. 

hope. 

tiffany

BEcause of Him alone

I have been invited to be the speaker for an entire of week of summer camp for glorious 7th and 8th grade kids next week. I am up to my elbows in study and preparation and I absolutely love the little nuggets of truth that rock my world and refocus my wandering heart. These little truths that I have read over a hundred times but reclaim my heart in a fresh, new way...something worth sharing. :) 

'For from Him

and through Him

and to Him

are all things. 

To Him be the glory forever. 

Amen.'

~Apostle Paul

Romans 11:36

Everything I have. Everything I am. Everything I hope to be. 

Everything is from Him. 

This simple yet profound truth frees me from the bondage of feverish toil and all the anxiety that comes with it. I am free to simply live well, love well and manage my gifts well. 

Everything I do. Everything I hope to do. 

Everything I can do and try to do I do through Christ. 

I have no strength...no will power...no desire...no breath...

apart from Him. 

This releases me from the joy-stealing weight of feeling as though everything is up to me. 

I am free to do my best, bless others and live well through the power of Christ at work within me and the resources that He has given me. Nothing more. Nothing less. 

Everything I have. Everything I am. Everything I hope to be. 

Everything I do. Everything I hope to do. 

Everything I can do and try to do...

Is all for His glory. 

Not because He is an arrogant God, but because He is good and faithful and is worthy of highest praise and adoration. 

He has given me life today. He has given me hope today. He has freed me from the bondage of sin and shame and anxious toil, and has given me in their place the freedom to live well, love well and serve well. 

My heart is bowed low before Him not because He demands it but because that is the only response to the vast love that He bestows upon this undeserving little girl of His. 

To Him be all glory and all praise and all honor and all adoration. 

Forever and ever. 

Amen. 

BEcause of Him alone. 

tiffany